


Summer dream

by PinkLotus (EspurrsVena)



Category: JO1 (Japan Band)
Genre: A little bit of angst, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Idol Trainee, Festivals, Fluff, M/M, Summer Romance, honestly I have no idea how to tag that again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:16:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28651137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EspurrsVena/pseuds/PinkLotus
Summary: At a summer festival in his hometown, Ren meets Takumi for the first time and everything feels like a dream - especially because they forgot to exchange contact information
Relationships: Kawanishi Takumi/Kawashiri Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Summer dream

It was his short summer break and together with some friends Ren had decided to visit a festival. Just a few months ago, he had moved from his hometown to the capital to make his dream of becoming an artist come true. Each day he worked hard for it, but on that day, he wanted to allow himself just to be a boy who is having fun with his friends. It felt good to see everyone again and not to think about improving his dancing. For just one day he wanted to forget about the pressure and enjoy the work of other artists while spending time with his friends. 

Sure, there was some slight pain inside of Ren’s heart to see that other people were enjoying the spotlight he was aiming for, yet at the same time he knew that no one was born a master. He was working on it and maybe in the next summer he would stand on such stages, too. Also, he wanted to forget such worries for a day and enjoy himself with his friends. 

Together the friends searched for some free spot near the stage when they noticed another guy who was about their age standing alone. Junki, as extroverted and people loving as always, approached the guy on the spot. “Hey, are you alone here?”  
The other one flinched when he suddenly heard a loud voice behind him and turned around, looking not that pleased. “What do you want from me? I’m not looking for-”  
“Sorry, our friend Junki is quite direct sometimes. We were just wondering if that spot here is taken or if we could stand here, too.” Explained Sho while giving a slightly scolding look in Junki’s direction. 

“Oh.” Only now Ren noticed that under the large bucket hat, some pink hair stuck out. It seemed to suit the other from the crumbs Ren could see. “No, I am alone. You can stand here if you want.”  
“Thank you. I’m Sho. The loud one here is Junki. And the other two are Ren and Ruki.” Just like back during their school times, Sho took the lead and introduced everyone while fixing the slight mess Junki's charging forward had created.  
“Nice to meet you. I’m Takumi.” While Takumi seemed to have eased a little after Junki startled him, he still seemed to be a little overwhelmed by his new company. It made Ren wonder whether he was just shy or if his friend had left a bad impression. 

Yet no matter the reason, Ren couldn’t help but to think of the other one as cute. He was slightly shorter than him, yet the bucket hat made him seem even shorter and those pink hair tips highlighted the cuteness in a way. The hat hid some of facial features but he seemed to be quite handsome. All together, they could have found worse company for the day for sure. “Nice to meet you, too, Takumi.” 

The first artist appeared on stage and everyone’s attention shifted towards them. Yet Ren noticed anyway that Takumi shifted away from Junki who had placed himself next to him. Instead, the pink haired one moved a little bit closer to Ren and in a way, it made him happy. It had been only a few minutes since they've met, but Ren already knew that he wanted to get to know the other one better. 

The first artist was quite nice but what actually sparked the curiosity of the group was the announcement that followed. You could win a meet and great with one of the artists if you won a dance cover contest. It tingled Ren’s competitive side – and his fan one – on the spot, but he wasn’t sure about his friends. He didn’t want to leave them alone to practise. It’s been too long since they have met. 

However, to his surprise he also saw Takumi’s eyes light up in the moment the contest was announced only for him to look defeated a moment after. “No, it’s probably useless anyway.”, Ren heard the other one mumbling.  
“What is useless?”  
Takumi blushed a little and shook his head. “Nothing... It's just that I would love to meet one of the groups, but I think I won’t stand a chance alone in that contest.”  
“I get that. I would shoot my chance, too, but I don’t want to leave my friends alone.” 

“You know what would be funny? If you two were talking about the same group.” said Ruki who was standing right next to Ren.  
“You would surely win, Ren. You are our dance pro anyway.”, added Junki.  
“But I’m not here to dance. I’m here to have fun.”  
“That’s something new from you. You always had fun while dancing or did that change after your move?” 

Actually, Sho had a point. Ren still loved dancing with all his heart, but after his move and working to survive in a competitive industry, dancing had lost its spark in a way. He still loved it, but it had lost some easiness. “No, it’s not like that. But we are here just to have fun and I don’t want to leave you alone to practise...”  
“Ren, how often did we watch you practise dancing in the last years?” Again, Sho was right. More than once them hanging out had ended up with Ren practising some dance or trying to teach them choreographies for the school festival. They had always supported his passion. “So, Takumi, which artist do you like? If it’s the same one as Ren you two could team up.” 

To everyone’s surprise the two guys indeed shared the same favourite artist, yet Takumi still seemed to hesitate. “But they are 6 members and we are only two. I doubt it can look good.”  
“Their dances are indeed difficult with just two people but with some adjustments...”  
“Or we join too.” offered Ruki. “It wouldn’t be the first time you teach us some choreography.”  
“Just like back in the days!” Junki seemed to be excited, too, and Sho also nodded.  
“Would you be okay with that, Takumi?”  
“It’s worth a try.” 

Thus, the group signed up for the contest. Due to the announcement being last minute and having Ren in their team, they hoped to have a chance in it, yet both Ren and Takumi didn’t want to get their hopes up. “So, we need to decide on a song now. I would suggest 808 because there is no way I can teach you the more difficult ones to you in just 3 hours.”  
“Whatever you say, performance leader.”  
“Thanks Junki. You okay with that, too, Takumi?”  
“Sure. And how would you split the parts?” 

“Well, you do look like the main dancer. You have the same pink hair as him right now and your physique is similar.”  
Again, Takumi blushed and Ren couldn’t help but think again that he was cute.  
“That’s just coincidence... I never took dance lessons, but you are a dancer, right? You can have his part.”  
“If you say so.” 

The spliting of the parts went smoothly, his friends trusting Ren's intuition when it came to such things completely. It was much different from how Ren had imagined that day to become, yet he didn’t mind. For the first time in a while, he felt actual excitement regarding dancing again. There was no pressure besides that fact that they were participating in a contest. He was just having fun with his old friends and his new friend, Takumi. It felt so much lighter or rather he felt much lighter compared to the last weeks.

The practise time was short, but Ren managed to make them presentable in the short time. While it was somewhat hilarious to image Sho as a rapper but from the body build and movements, that position fit the best from him and it was just a dance cover anyway.  
Yet to his surprise, Takumi was quite talented. Faster than Junki or Sho who had at least some experience thanks to their friend, he picked up the movements, thus Ren dared to hope they had a chance. 

The performance itself passed in a blur. It was similar and yet different from the recent times Ren danced. All eyes were on him and judging him, yet he didn’t care about it and instead he lived in the moment and let his body move with the music. He had missed feeling of freedom while dancing.  
However there was one more thing he noticed while performing. It was Takumi’s happiness. While the other one had been a little tense the whole time, some wall inside of him had broken down finally and he was also enjoying himself on stage. It was a beautiful sight and seeing people coming out of their shells was one of the reason's why Ren had fallen in love with dancing. 

After the performance ended, Ren felt a little bad of not paying attention to any of his friends, yet no one had fallen down and Junki was as loud as always while Ruki complained about that, hence he assumed that everything went fine for them, too.  
More groups followed and the silver haired one could see how some tension was building up inside of Takumi again – he seemed to compare himself to them and worry about their placing in the end.  
“It’s okay, Takkun. You were awesome.” They had just met that day, yet it felt like Ren knew him for a long time already. Maybe they had met already in a past life or something like that. It felt right to call him affectionally and the pink haired one didn't seem to mind it.  
He just smiled back at him. "Thanks."

Eventually, the results were announced and Ren’s team won. Out of happiness Takumi hugged him and this time it was Ren who blushed. Luckily, his friends didn’t seem to notice that or else he would have been teased mercilessly.  
The pink haired one stayed close to him when the meet and great happened. Sure, they were all guys, but he also couldn’t help but to feel a little nervous when he met some of his favourite idols. He was aiming to stand on the same stage as them, but today he was just a fan. Still, he wondered whether one day he would stand in their position, too, welcoming strangers who admire him. 

In the meantime, the festival had become more crowded and their good spots from earlier taken, luckily their win included a nice viewing spot, too. Besides having more room to stand and move around, Takumi stayed close to him. Feeling light hearted from the events of the day, Ren hugged him from behind and laid his head on the other one’s shoulder while watching the performance on stage. Initially, the pink haired one was a little startled, yet he eased on the spot and leaned a little closer to him. 

There was barely a moment more perfect in Ren’s life. He had rediscovered his joy for dancing, met someone who felt like a soulmate and he was watching one of his favourite artists together with his friends. He wanted to last it forever. 

When the show ended, fireworks started to illuminate the sky. Ren was about to take out his phone to capture that moment when he felt Takumi’s hand on his cheek. He stopped in his movement and instead his attention shifted to the pink haired one who was still standing in his arms. The fireworks reflected in his eyes which made them look like they were sparkling. They looked more beautiful than anything else he had seen in his life and when Takumi’s lips met his ones, he forgot everything around him. He couldn’t hear the fireworks anymore nor the music from the stage. He felt like he was in his own dimension with the pink haired one. 

Instead of the fireworks in the sky, Ren could feel them exploding in his stomach. He felt like a protagonist in those cheesy high school love stories in which the couple confessed during a summer festival besides no verbal confession had happened. Yet that kiss was better than a confession. It was more intense, more real than some words. He didn’t want the other one to let go anymore. It had been less than 12 hours since they'd met but he knew that he wanted to spend the eternity with him. It was what people call love at the first sight. 

Ultimately, they had to break the kiss to catch some oxygen, but they stayed close and Ren couldn’t help but to continue to look into the other one's beautiful eyes. He still hadn’t left the dreamland he was in and if it hadn’t been for Junki who told them to get a room, he would have stayed there. 

Yet once both guys were pulled back to reality, the magic of the moment was lost. Their courage was lost and while Takumi stayed in his arms, both of them weren’t able to build up any new courage to continue where they had stopped.  
Together with the fireworks, the festival also found its end and the group made their way to the station. The friends or rather their families lived close to each other, so they could take the same line, and also Takumi’s hotel was at the same one. The time of parting had come, but Ren was glad to have a few more minutes with the pink haired one. 

As expected, the train was crowded with all the festival guests returning home, thus Ren and Takumi standing closely to each other again. A somewhat awkward silence enveloped them and too soon they reached the station where Takumi had to get off. It was hard to act affectionally among so many people and even harder to hug the other one as a farewell. It was even worse when the doors opened and the exiting crowd took Takumi with them. Only when the doors closed Ren realised that they had never exchanged any contact information. 

His mood took a slump which didn’t go unnoticed by his friends. They thought it was only because of the parting and Ren didn’t have the heart to tell them the whole misery.  
When they got off at their home station, their ways parted and once Ren reached home, he was feeling so down that he went straight to the bed not bothering to change or to shower. 

When he woke up the next morning, the previous day only felt like a dream. Looking back at all the events that happened, it felt impossible for them to be real. Meeting one of his favourite artists, falling in love with a stranger and their parting – that was the plot of some teen movie maybe but not the reality.  
But then he discovered a message on his phone. Ruki had sent him some pictures from the day before and one of them looked as unreal as he felt.  
_I was looking through the pics I took yesterday and found this one. You can’t see much but it’s clearly you and Takumi kissing under the fireworks._

His friend was right. You could only see silhouettes but at the same time it was obvious it was that magic moment from the night before. It had been real and yet Ren’s mind refused to accept that. Maybe it was to shield himself from the pain that would hit him next. He only had the name ‘Takumi’ and the other one had gotten off the train at the city center. There were so many hotels there that would be impossible to locate him in time. 

At the same time the picture illustrated the situation well. Something had happened and yet it stayed so unclear that you could try to fool your mind and blame it on your imagination. Still, it was something beautiful and Ren couldn't resist to save it.

His own stupidness had caused a mess. He should have asked Takumi for his LINE, Twitter, Instagram or email address, but instead his mind had been occupied with dancing first and then with the pink haired one. It was so stupid and frustrating. He was heartbroken and it was his own fault. 

Only when his mother called him for breakfast, he managed to get up and when his gaze fell on his appearance in the mirror, he found another proof that the events had been real.  
He was sure that the day before he had been wearing matching earrings, yet now one of the earrings was different and he was sure that Takumi had worn that one.  
That meant instead of a way to contact the pink haired one, he was only left with a photo of them kissing under the fireworks and his earring. It hurt. 

After his short summer break at home, Ren returned to the capital and continued his training. Each day that passed made the events feel more like a dream and he invested himself fully into the training to move on. However, the photo Ruki took stayed his lock screen and the earring that mysteriously replaced his own stayed on his ear. Believing everything was nothing but a dream helped to ease the pain of his broken heart.

Yet no matter whether everything had been real or not, at least he was able to regain his joy in dancing. The evaluations didn’t weigh as heavily as before on him and he found himself enjoying each challenge again.  
Each day was the same as before but having found new comfort in dancing made him feel some progress.  
Maybe he could truly stand a stage not as a cover dancer but as an artist next summer.  
Maybe he could be the one who inspires others to give their best and form new connections soon.  
Maybe by the time that happened his broken heart would be healed. 

Winter came and only occasionally his thoughts wandered to the pink haired one. Ren was about to change his lock screen finally, to let go of short-lived summer romance when he got a message from his company. He was informed that he would get a roommate soon.  
Normally, each trainee had a roommate, but due their previously uneven number Ren had been lucky to have a room for himself. Actually, he would have loved a roommate from the start because he often felt lonely – even more after the events of the summer. 

Sooner than expected there was a knock on his door and the person standing on the other side of the door was a shock – but a good one. “Takumi?”  
While the other one had looked a little lost when Ren had opened the door, the moment he realised who stood before him, he dropped his bag and hugged the other one closely.  
Anew Ren felt like he was dreaming, but the warmth of the other one felt real and having him in his arms felt just like back then. If it was a dream, he didn’t want it to end this time. 

“Ren, is that really you?” It seemed like he wasn’t the only one in believing that everything was a dream. Besides hugging him tightly – for a short person like him Takumi had a lot of strength – he looked at him in disbelief.  
As much as Ren didn’t want to part from the other one, he realised that they were still half standing on the hallway, thus he directed the other one inside and said down with him on the small sofa he had. “Yes, it’s really me. But what are you doing here? Are you the new trainee?” 

“I am. After dancing with you and the others I realised how much fun it is to stand on stage. I mean I always liked music and dancing, but I never had the courage to pursue it until I met you and we won that contest.”  
“I’m proud of you, Takkun.” There was so much more Ren wanted to tell him, but in that moment those words didn’t want to come out of him. Instead, he took his hand and squeezed it lightly.  
“But I never thought I would see you here. I’m so -”  
“Don’t apologise. It’s my fault, too.” 

All the pain of the heartbreak he felt the last months were forgotten in the moment Takumi stood in front of him. Now Ren could only feel happiness to see him again.  
“You are still wearing it.” Cautiously as if he was afraid that Ren would disappear in the next moment Takumi reached for the earring that he had secretly given him.  
“Of course. It was a gift from someone special. But I wonder how he gave it to me.”  
“Well, it was during the kiss. I just wanted to mess with you a little and tell you later, but then everything went so fast and during the farewell I realised that I got no time to tell you any way to contact me, I just left it with you in hope you would remember me.” 

“I couldn’t forget you. Even when I tried to tell myself that it was nothing but a dream, I couldn’t forget you.” And even if it was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up anymore. Not now when Takumi was finally back in his arms. “Let’s not part ever again. Let’s make the debut together.”  
“Let’s do so.” After all those months their lips connected again and they promised each other to make every dream become reality.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> I'm back with the rivers and because there is some drought.  
> The plot is actually based on a dream of mine (and that's why the plot doesn't make much sense)  
> btw, free Haribo to the person who guesses with group they did a dance cover of (Hint: 6 member Kpop group I also like lol)  
> I hope you enjoyed this story!  
> See you~


End file.
